Lestes viridis

The Western Willow Spreadwing is a fairly large, metallic green or brown damselfly. As with all Lestes species, it typically holds its wings at an angle of about 45 degrees when at rest. It is a common and widely distributed species throughout Europe except the British Isles and Scandinavia. Compared to its much rarer stable mate the Eastern Willow Spreadwing (Lestes parvidens), Lestes viridis is said to have a somewhat lighter-coloured pterostigma (dark golden yellow rather than light brown), the tip and sides of the male's appendages are more extensively black, and the female's ovipositor has 10-14 smallish teeth (rather than the 6-8 larger teeth in L. parvidens).

For an overview of the Western Willow Spreadwing's distribution in Europe, hover your mouse pointer over the map symbol .
With the authors' permission we have based this map on data published in Kalkman et al. (2010).
Legend: Red = Occurs, White = Doesn't occur; Purple = Extinct; Yellow = Vagrant.

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